| This week was, by any metrics, Emmanuel Macron’s worst since he entered office in 2017. Once hailed as a revolutionary leader and a European strongman, seven days were enough to fully expose the fragility of his presidency and the waning authority he exercises in Brussels. It had everything to be a light and easy week. On Sunday evening (1 December), Macron was jetting off to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for a three-day official visit that had reconciliation and lavish business opportunities splashed all over it – a diplomat’s dream. The trip came as Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman is making a grand return to the world stage, brushing off his global pariah status after the revelation he was behind the atrocious murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi. Macron, craving a market share in this oil-rich country, got what he wanted: deals were signed, hands shaken, and smiles radiantly exchanged. Strolling through iconic historic sites, strutting about in his Aviators shades, he looked at ease, unshaken, in his place. Things were good. But the press made very little of it. Instead, their attention was some 5,800 kilometres away. In France, one of its most imperious political and economic crises was brewing, as Prime Minister Michel Barnier was pushing through en force a decried social security budget bill that, he knew, could make his government fall. | 
